The prior art has disclosed numerous structures for retaining a phallus relative to a wearer's body. For example, various harnesses have been disclosed for retaining a phallus relative to the pelvis of a wearer.
Unfortunately, the harnesses and other arrangements of the prior art suffer from a number of limitations and disadvantages. Many commercially available harnesses are formed with a rigid crotch plate that is retained relative to a wearer by a similarly rigid belt arrangement. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,541, Garcia discloses what is referred to as a Therapeutic Adapter wherein a pubic shield has a plurality of conical projections and a monolithically formed tubular portion. The pubic shield and the tubular portion are held in place by a system of waist and leg belts. In a similar vein, a Sexual Aid is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,810 to Chang wherein a tubular body is retained by a guard member and a connection piece. The device is retained in place by a waistband and bands coupled to the connection piece.
The structures taught by Garcia, Chang, and many other disclosures of the prior art can thus be seen to be quite rigid and unnatural in structure and application. While they may have the advantage of stably retaining a prosthetic phallus due to the rigidity of the pelvis and, often, the belt portions of the harness, such prior art harnesses can be uncomfortable and restrictive to the wearer.
The present inventor improved upon the previous state of the art with the retention arrangements disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,849,041 for a Phallus Retention Harness and a plurality of subsequent improvements. Under the '041 patent, a phallus retention harness was disclosed with a pocket member with typically resilient front and rear panels and an aperture in the front panel that enables a prosthetic phallus to be retained relative to a user in a comfortable yet effective manner not only during sexual encounters but also as during normal daily activities in an inconspicuous manner under a wearer's clothing if so desired. The invention of the '041 patent has achieved widespread commercial success and has been embodied, for instance, in resilient undergarments approximating the general configuration of underwear briefs, boxers, and panties.
While advantageous for its comfort, adjustability, and conformability, the resiliency of harnesses taught and permitted under the '041 patent, without more, leaves the base of the prosthetic phallus retained by a panel or panels of resilient material, such as varied compositions of spandex. This results in a lack of ideal stability. Conversely, the retaining retention harness could be crafted from non-resilient material, but the desired advantages of for instance, comfort and conformability would be lost.
The present inventor has thus recognized that it would be advantageous to provide a phallus retention harness that simultaneously adhieves the typically competing goals of exhibiting flexibility where desirable, such as in relation to a wearer's waist and legs, while providing stable localized support to a retained prosthetic phallus.